View from Seed

JANUARY 5, 2015

Raising venture capital at any stage of company growth requires tremendous effort from entrepreneurs. As a reminder, you can find all our startup resources here.). Note that this list was created specifically with seed-stage startups in mind. We hope this helps you stay on-task and efficient!

Seed Capital 120

Seed Capital Seed Stage Entrepreneur Venture Capital 120

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

Next Wednesday we’ll have Dana Settle of Greycroft Partners, a New York / LA early-stage venture capital fund. Nevertheless, if you share too much in your funding process or meet too many VCs expect a certain amount of your ideas to spread around the startup community. This is unintentional and inevitable.

Stealth 285

Stealth SEC Advertising Accredited Investor 285

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 8, 2014

Let me start with the obvious baseline that most people probably know instinctively: Los Angeles is the 3rd largest technology startup ecosystem in the US. Given how efficient markets are when a large market like LA starts to blossom it attracts capital pretty quickly. In the last full year where we have data LA attracted $1.5

Los Angeles 376

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Seattle 376

Gust

MARCH 11, 2014

According to analysis by my partner Jamie Davidson on typical periods between financings peaks around 9 months so the follow on rates for Series Bs should be accurate up until the 2011 class, which gives these startups more than 2 years to raise their B. The secular decline in all of these ratios screams of increased competition.

Seed Stage 169

Seed Stage Seed Capital Startup Green 169

mashable.com

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

Here’s an overview: Mitch Kapor: Kapor is founding partner of Kapor Capital , a firm that invests in seed and early stage startups. This is the man you’ll need to impress should you wish to slice off a piece of the sFund pie for your startup. and Path Intelligence.

Angel Investor 80

Angel Investor Startup San Francisco Social Media 80

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Goldman Sachs and CB Insights recently reported that startups have raised over $1 billion in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) this summer — more than the total amount of venture capital raised during the same period. Need for growth capital. Thanks to Deanna Rampton from Startup Grind for her help in editing.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 28, 2017

Goldman Sachs and CB Insights recently reported that startups have raised over $1 billion in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) this summer — more than the total amount of venture capital raised during the same period. Need for growth capital. Thanks to Deanna Rampton from Startup Grind for her help in editing.

Early Stage 20

Early Stage Equity Venture Capital Government 20

Gust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2014

To begin with, it is important to understand some basic facts about the world of entrepreneurial finance: There are many more entrepreneurs than there are investors, with the result that only one company out of every 400 that seeks venture funding actually receives it.

Angel Groups 159

Angel Groups Elevator Pitch Software Review Deal Flow 159

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 14, 2014

I had witnessed a number of early-stage tech startups in LA raise seed capital from the Bay Area and relocate. It was 2009 and it was terribly difficult to get any financing (if you can remember a time like that!) Adam had a full time startup and then was doing consulting (he later raised a VC fund). And Adam his.

Early Stage 290

Early Stage Venture Capital Los Angeles Coder 290

K9 Ventures

JUNE 5, 2015

That in turn requires more capital. So while the infrastructure cost and startup costs may have declined, the operating costs have increased. Together this means that Seed stage companies need to run longer and at a higher expense structure, meaning they need to raise a lot more capital.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage Venture Capital Early Stage Valuation 48

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

As an entrepreneur, you have probably heard or read the “maxim” that only 10% of startups are successful, but is this true? These results were obtained after the following rounds of financing of more than 1000 technology companies in the United States. The rounds were conducted from 2008 to 2010, starting from seed capital.

Venture Capital 77

Venture Capital Cofounder Finance United States 77

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2014

Contrary to popular opinion I actually believe crowd-funding is best used after seed capital or venture capital. The reality is you must be great at HR, PR, finance AND product. Put it this way – Upfront Ventures spend on PR per year = $0. In a startup this is a mistake.

PR 319

PR Venture Capital Hiring Seed Capital 319

Growthink Blog

MAY 23, 2011

The typical wisdom regarding the appropriate financing course for a new company goes as follows: 1. This venture capital financing - usually between $3 and $10 million - is the first of a number of rounds of outside investment over a period of three to five years. There are a lot of dark, hard days.

Angel Investor 112

Angel Investor Venture Capital Sweat Equity Cram Down 112

BeyondVC

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

Increasingly I am seeing many startups who were ably seed funded get caught in "No Man's Land" between the seed round and a true Series A round led by a venture capitalist. This is happening because there are way too many companies raising seed capital but not enough executing their way to a Series A.

Seed Capital 133

Seed Capital Angel Investor Seed Money Startup 133

BeyondVC

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

Increasingly I am seeing many startups who were ably seed funded get caught in "No Man's Land" between the seed round and a true Series A round led by a venture capitalist. This is happening because there are way too many companies raising seed capital but not enough executing their way to a Series A.

Seed Capital 133

Seed Capital Angel Investor Seed Money Startup 133

Gust

OCTOBER 5, 2011

Last week , we gave some attention to the “why” behind convertible note financing for early stage startups. As with so many subjects in law and finance, mastering the jargon is half the battle. This may seem like a no-brainer now that you understand the basic structure of a convertible debt financing.

Finance 79

Finance Preferred Stock Term Sheet Early Stage 79

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Tweet View Comments Sarah Lacy Feb 19, 2010 Pepperdine has a new study out that attempts to shed some light on the clubby, shadowy world of private finance. Researchers polled experts in lending, mezzanine capital, private equity, venture capital and private businesses themselves. A lot of the stats weren’t surprising.

Venture Capital 62

Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation 62

Haystack

NOVEMBER 24, 2018

venture capital to date (more on this in a separate post), unfortunately relegating billion-dollar exits as “ho-hum” events to the technology crowd. 4/ The Big Winners: Cylance raised around ~$280M in financing, with large equity stakeholders being Khosla Ventures, Fairhaven, and Blackstone. 1/ Cash Is King: The $1.4B

Acquisition 62

Acquisition Artificial Inteligence Balance Sheet Cofounder 62

Growthink Blog

MAY 10, 2012

Seed Funding 3. Mezzanine Financing Most companies that raise equity capital and are eventually acquired or go public receive multiple rounds of financing first. No right or wrong answer here, but if this is your vision then it's important to consider when negotiating deal terms on earlier stage financing rounds.

Equity 88

Equity Mezzanine Later Stage Venture Capital 88

Steve Blank

APRIL 28, 2016

It follows the journeys of innovators sharing what it takes to build a startup – from restaurants to rocket scientists, to online gifts to online groceries and more. Before co-founding Biota Technology , he was an investor and entrepreneur-in-residence at Seed Capital , a investing in science-based innovation.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Cofounder Seed Capital Texas 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 28, 2016

It follows the journeys of innovators sharing what it takes to build a startup – from restaurants to rocket scientists, to online gifts to online groceries and more. Before co-founding Biota Technology , he was an investor and entrepreneur-in-residence at Seed Capital , a investing in science-based innovation.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Cofounder Seed Capital Texas 120

Rob Go

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

I was surprised to find that it has been more than two years since my post summarizing the state of the seed stage market, and trying to bring a balanced view on the rise of Super Angels and Micro-VC’s. The venture capital market continues to be in transition, and a lot of changes have occurred in the early stages of the market.

Seed Stage 55

Seed Stage Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Early Stage 55